ALAN BENNETT IS hoping that the fresh dimensions Cork City have added to their approach will help them to prevail in 2018 as their rivals in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division aim to take the scalp of the new champions.
John Caulfield’s side begin their defence of the title this Friday night with a trip to Richmond Park to face St Patrick’s Athletic. The Leesiders will travel to Inchicore on the back of retaining the President’s Cup thanks to a 4-2 win over Dundalk.
Caulfield brought in eight new players during the off-season, two of whom — Barry McNamee and Graham Cummins — chipped in with goals as City came from 2-0 down at half-time to defeat the Lilywhites at Oriel Park on Sunday.
“Pat’s will have been thinking about us for the last six weeks, as we have of them,” says Bennett. “But they’ll be thinking if they can take the champions down on the first day of the season it’ll be a massive boost to them. That’s the motivation right there. That’s probably what they’ve been saying to each other and that’s what we’re expecting.
“There’s a few new dimensions to our game so we’ll have to really fine-tune those and use those to get out of the situations that other teams are going to put us in now. Some teams might drop off, some teams might go for us, so we’ll have to be prepared for everything. John will have us fully prepped and all that kind of stuff, but every single game someone will want to beat us.”
Despite losing the likes of Ryan Delaney, Greg Bolger and Stephen Dooley from their 2017 double-winning squad, City have made several significant signings.
In addition to McNamee and Cummins, goalkeeper Peter Cherrie and defenders Colm Horgan, Aaron Barry and Tobi Adebayo-Rowling all made their competitive debuts for the club against Dundalk. Defender Danny Kane and striker Josh O’Hanlon have also arrived from Huddersfield Town and St Patrick’s Athletic respectively.
“It has definitely raised the competition in the squad,” Bennett insists. “The players who came in have definitely brought another dimension to our game. You look at Aaron Barry, Barry McNamee, how they settled straight into the team… Colm Horgan, Graham Cummins, they all did really well on Sunday in the game versus Dundalk.
“That’s where we are as a group and that’s where the level has gone to. They need to understand that, and they do understand it. With Barry and Graham, it kind of gives something different to us.
“The way we played, the goals we got were really good quality goals so we’d like to see those things and add in a few more of our strengths into that as well. The more dimensions and the more ways we can score goals and win games, the better for Cork City.”
Having also been part of the team that clinched the title in 2005, Bennett became a two-time Premier Division champion last season. He’ll turn 37 before this season ends, so the former Ireland international defender knows he’s nearing the end of his career. However, he’s eager to ensure that he hasn’t already won his last league medal.
If City are to retain their crown in 2018, they’ll have to achieve something no Cork club has managed in 67 years. The defunct Cork Athletic secured back-to-back League of Ireland titles in 1951. Taking into account the 12-year gaps that have separated the three titles City have won in their history — the first came in 1993 — Bennett admits it won’t be easy.
“That’s our challenge as a group,” he said. “That’s why the new lads have joined the group. The lads already in the group want that as well. The history of Cork suggests that it’s a difficult thing to do, so that’s the challenge to us. This group has been breaking ground since it got together under John so that’s exactly what we want to continue doing.”
Bennett added: “We had a couple of meetings in pre-season and it was pretty much decided that that’s it, last year is done. The biggest strength of our group is the acceptance of a situation quite quickly and to move on. That’s for whether things are going well or going badly. That strength will have to be there this year as well. We’ll move on and drive forward.”
